After winning 18 seats in Lok Sabha election, Shiv Sena talks of 2 cabinet, one MoS position at Centre, Dy CM post in State

After winning 18 seats in Lok Sabha election, Shiv Sena talks of 2 cabinet, one MoS position at Centre, Dy CM post in State

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 07:52 PM IST
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Mumbai: After the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won a majority in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the second-largest party in the National Democratic Alliance is, interestingly, the Shiv Sena. Of the LS 48 seats in the state, the Sena has won 18. In 2014, the Sena, as the second largest ally, had only got one cabinet berth.

However, this time, the number is expected to go up to three, as is being speculated in Sena circles. This will include a Sena minister of state. The names being tossed around are those of Arvind Sawant, the second-time winner from South Mumbai, the Ratnagiri-Sindhurdurg MP Vinayak Raut and the Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavna Gawli.

Prior to the alliance, one of the conditions imposed by the Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was that the BJP-Sena should go back to their previous 1996 alliance understanding at the state level — that a post of deputy chief minister be given to the alliance partner with fewer seats.

Uddhav and the Sena managed to pull off victories in a few seats at the last minute with good margins only because of their stand on some issues — primarily, the demand to scrap the refinery project at Nanar, as the locals were staunchly opposed to it. This was the prime reason for Vinayak Raut’s victory, which also led to the defeat of Narayan Rane’s son, Nilesh.

The Ranes had wanted the project, while the Sena had opposed it. Uddhav had also placed conditions on portfolio distribution. BJP national chief Amit Shah has called Uddhav to New Delhi to discuss details and the Sena demands at the state-level, too, will be discussed.

The Sena currently enjoys a formidable stature in the NDA. Despite the ongoing tiff between the BJP-Sena in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the fact is that the Sena forged the alliance and its workers scoured the by-lanes of the cities and interiors to ensure a win for their alliance.

Prior to the Lok Sabha polls, many political observers had written off the Sena and Uddhav, saying they would be relegated to third position and become a liability. However, it turns out that victory has helped the Sena leverage its bargaining power and the fact is the BJP cannot underestimate its alliance partner in Maharashtra anymore.

BJP IS BIG BROTHER
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP scored an overwhelming victory, the Shiv Sena, which has been the party’s in-house critic, referred to its ally as “big brother.” “We have always given the status of big brother to the BJP in national politics. There is no leader left who can outmatch him (PM Modi). And I don’t see any leader like him in the next 25 years,’’ Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on Friday.

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